John Duffy, PT quotes a colleague:
So brief review on Acupuncture: 1. it doesn’t work any better than toothpicks on your skin (that’s been published) 2. it doesn’t provide improvements greater than comparable placebos (proven many times over) 3. It is NOT without risk (ahem see below) 4. it is NOT 5000 years old, it was mostly created in the 1950s in Mao’s China and 5. there’s nothing ‘natural’ about poking needles into someone. End of lesson.
http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/07/04/judo-acupuncture-needle/
My reading suggests that acupuncture started in China about 2,000 years ago. However, it wasn’t until the twentieth century (especially after President Nixon’s trip in 1972) under Mao’s rule that acupuncture gained worldwide exposure and interest.
(Yahoo! Images)